Richard Smith, president of the Americas at Fedex Corp., holds a shipping box as he speaks during an Operation Terminal velocity vaccine top at the White Home in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020.
Al Drago|Bloomberg|Getty Images
The U.S. government is prepping millions of dosages of Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine this weekend for delivery to websites throughout the country, a mammoth logistical endeavor in support of what may be the most intricate immunization program in history.
” As I speak today, right now, vaccines are being packaged with a lot of focus on quality assurance. To that end, tomorrow early morning, vaccines will start rolling from manufacturing to distribution hubs,” stated Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of Operation Lightning speed, at a briefing by the Health and Human Solutions Department Saturday. “And then by Monday, vaccines will be received.”
FedEx and the United Parcel Service will play vital roles in dispersing the vaccine, which is vulnerable and needs unique treatment.
” The factor we’re both here and we’re both doing this is because we’re the only ones that can,” said Richard Smith, executive vice president of FedEx Express, referring to both FedEx and UPS.
thermal shipper,” contains anywhere from 1,000 to 5,000 doses. These custom-made thermal shippers serve as mobile freezers for clinics that don’t have the required specialized devices.
FedEx and UPS have been enlisted to securely transport the thermal carriers from Pfizer storage websites in Michigan and Wisconsin to 64 states, areas and major cities throughout the country.
” We have the ability to serve every ZIP code in the United States of America,” stated Smith. “This is what our network was developed to do.”
The 2 shipping giants have decided to divide and dominate.
” FedEx and UPS have divided the country into two,” stated Wes Wheeler, president of UPS International Health Care “We understand exactly what states we have, and they know what states they have.”
We have the ability to serve every ZIP code in the United States of America. This is what our network was developed to do.
Richard Smith
executive vice president of FedEx Express
Both companies have spent years developing their health-care logistics services, so they already have systems in place to allow for special handling of delicate medical items, including networks of freezers.
Leaders from both UPS and FedEx also guaranteed a Senate transportation subcommittee on Thursday that they had the capacity to manage the increase of deliveries, in spite of it coinciding with the peak vacation shipping season. The 2 companies collectively employed 170,000 extra employees to equal demand. They stated the vaccines would get the highest top priority of all of their shipments.
But distribution of Pfizer’s vaccine will differ from anything tried before.
” The vaccine circulation and program execution is going to be the most intricate vaccination program ever tried in human history,” stated Dr. Kelly Moore, associate director for immunization education at the Immunization Action Coalition.
1,200 pounds of solidified carbon dioxide per hour in its U.S. facilities, which will be distributed to administration websites.
When it comes to shipping the vaccine itself, that work starts now.
Under the UPS distribution design, doses are first carried from Pfizer storage sites to its freezer farm in Louisville, Kentucky. From there, UPS will load the thermal shippers onto aircrafts and trucks.
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